Previous chapters are at http://templar.anifics.com/
Page should be updated by midnight pacific tonight with chapters 23 and 24.

Disclaimer: The characters within belong to Pioneer, Harmony Gold, and a
couple to Palladium books.  No profit was made from this work of fiction

No Need For Protoculture: The Sentinels
by Andrew Wilson

Chapter 3: Blood and Steel

Night had fallen over the city of Tiseres.  The city was dark, as the 
native inhabitants were denied their old  protoculture-based power 
sources.  The occupation had been swift, since the planets only martial 
force had departed ten years before, shortly after the empire's 
defenders had been defeated.

The night sky flared briefly with new stars that faded as soon as they 
became visible.  Few of the inhabitants noticed.  They had lost the will 
to look to the sky generations ago.

Two individuals noticed.  The only two free beings on the entire planet.

"Those flares showed emissions consistent with reflex power sources," 
Rem reported.

Cabel nodded and continued to adjust his sensors. "Yes, but the 
protoculture readings do not match known configurations."

"You're right," the youth said. "Who could they be?"

"Whoever they are, they destroyed the Invid force in orbit." Cacel gave 
a triumphant cry as the monitors resolved into a visual image.

Rem leaned over his mentor's shoulder and tapped the screen. "Definitely 
not a known design."

The ship was bluish grey and lean like an aquatic predator.  The 
distance was too great to make out any details, so Cabel moved on to the 
next ship in the display.  The red hull came into focus and the 
scientist froze.

"Cabel?" Rem shook the elder's shoulder. "What is it?"

"It is his ship," Cabel breathed.

"Whose ship?" Rem asked in confusion.

"Zor's ship!" Cabel exclaimed. "We are saved!"

*******

The REF fleet slid into orbit above the largest city on Tirol.  On the 
flag bridge, Rick scowled at the readings coming on movement far below. 
"I should be going down there."

Lisa sighed.  That line had been repeated several times since the first 
encounter with the invid six hours ago.  The only difference was this 
time Tenchi standing on the flag bridge.

"Excuse me?" Tenchi asked mildly.

"I said," Rick repeated, "I should be in a Veritech, not play-acting in 
this stupid uniform!"

"And you would go where?" Tenchi replied.

"Skull lost a pilot." Rick turned to examine Tirol and Fantoma through 
the observation window. "I'm still rated on the Alpha."

"Skull also has a waiting list as long as my arm for transfers," Tenchi 
countered as he stepped to Rick's shoulder. "Plus you haven't been in 
the cockpit in three years *except* for the qualification tests."

Tenchi leaned in close. "And I'm the CAG.  All personnel discussions 
must be approved by me.  You want in?  Fine, I have a slot."

"Where?" Lisa asked.  She expected Tenchi to shoot Rick wish out of the 
water, not encourage.

Tenchi smiled. "One of the Wildcards got his Beta shot up, ejection 
system and beacon ruined.  SAR found him when he was within a 
hairsbredthe of suffocating.  Suffice to say, he wants out of that 
squadron, since the famed immortality doesn't apply to him."

That was certainly true.  Ichiro Moore's special operations squadrons 
had two types of pilots: aces that managed to avoid being downed no 
matter the odds, and green pilots with the highest turnover of any 
wing.  While downed pilots were almost always recovered, the squadron's 
well-earned reputation for insanity made getting shot down the last 
straw.  Horror dawned on Rick face as he realized just where Tenchi 
would stick him if he persisted.

"Flag command sounds good," Rick quickly said.

"Yes, it does," Tenchi replied evenly.

*******

Contrary to the habits of humans, the major cities of Tirol were located 
in desolate regions.  The land surrounding Tiseres was no exception.  
Sun-baked rocks and packed clay dominated the landscape.  Mesas and 
canyons were common, but one section south of the city was flat and 
clear of large rocks.  It was in this area that forty large, disc-shaped 
shadows appeared.

The massive drop ships were originally of Zentradi design.  Only the 
shape remained, as the ships that descended were faster, better armored, 
and held a wider variety of mecha than their predecessors.  They were 
escorted to the badlands outside Tiseres by the Vindicators of Wing 
Five.  The dropships landed without incident and immediately began 
disgorging their compliments of mecha.

Great plumes of dust rose from the baked earth as the first destroid 
marched out of its dropship.  The Excaliber's many weapon systems 
tracked the ground and sky before it stepped away to allow the others in 
its platoon to exit.

The advanced and versatile Excalibers were the first to set foot oh 
Tirol.  Next came the Gladiators with their massive cannons and more 
massive arms that stretched and flexed as the pilots tested mechanical 
muscles.  After them, like archers following ancient infantry, came the 
Spartans with their barrel-shaped arms and Raiders that evoked images of 
pre-robotechnology machine gun turrets.  Once the squads were clear, a 
massive rumble echoed from the dim interiors.  The final Destroids 
marched out of the drop ships, and the ground itself could barely hold 
them, as they sank over ten centimeters into the hard clay.  Only two of 
the massive Mobile Artillery Cannon Destroids (or MAC III, for short) 
could fit in each ship, but few would be needed in the urban combat ahead.

One last drop-ship, different from its brothers, landed ahead of the 
assembling Destroids.  From that ship rumbled a huge wheeled vehicle.  
On the command deck of the Titan command vehicle, Breetai studied the 
assembled forces.  Two full divisions - over a thousand of the humanoid 
war machines - awaited his command.  The quantity was far less than he 
commanded under Dolza, yet somehow this army radiated a greater power.

"GMU is ready," reported Colonel Grant, the Titan's commander and 
Breetai's primary deputy.  Grant was a combat engineer by training, and 
the brother of the SDF-1's tactical officer.  He also had a knack for 
problem solving, both tactical and mechanical.

Breetai nodded, his gaze never leaving the distant towers of Tiseres. 
"Upload terrain maps to all units as they become available.  Form ranks 
and advance.  Formation Alpha."

The divisions formed up.  Leading the charge were lines of three hundred 
Gladiators and an equal number of Excalibers.  Intermixed with the 
middle and rear ranks were three hundred Raiders.  Bringing up the rear 
were two hundred Spartans and eighty MAC IIIs.  The rumble of the 
mechanical behemoths as they marched guaranteed that the Invid knew they 
were coming.  But the REF forces were not worried about subtlety.

*******

Cabel looked up at the lab's smooth stone ceiling as a trickle of dust 
and gravel trickled down from a new crack.  What sounded like distant 
thunder rolled on without pause, and the lab where the two scientists 
had lived in the months since the Ivid invasion was being destroyed.

"Survive everything else to be killed by a quake," Rem muttered. "How 
lovely."

"That's no quake," Cabel replied. "It sounds more like an army."

"Would they not be on hover-sleds?" Rem asked in confusion.

Cabel glaced around his lab, and immediately began gathering a few key 
pieces of equipment. "I doubt this is the sound of bioroids.  Or 
Zentradi pods, for that matter.  We will have to move to a different 
shelter."

"After all we did to set this one up?" Rem muttered.

*******

Ensign Jack Baker was not having a good day.  Spitfire squadron under 
Miriya Sterling was tasked with a quick reconnaissance of the city 
proper.  Unfortunately, the squadron's Beta Veritechs were back with the 
heavy hitters in the Destroid strike force.  This left Jack flying wing 
for Karen Penn, a spoiled brat that managed to graduate from the REF 
accelerated training program a week earlier than he.

"Look alive, Baker," Penn said over their private frequency. "We have 
movement at the city edge."

Jack glanced at the visual image of the city streets a hundred meters 
below. Something was moving alright, but it didn't look like mecha. 
"Looks like a hundred Destroid-sized objects in that street alone.  No 
sign of the mecha encountered in orbit."

"Command is advised, and wants one of us to make a close pass.  You 
better take that one, Jack."

Jack gave a start. "Me?"

"Yes you," Penn replied testily. "Get going, I'll cover you."

Jack snorted and sent his Alpha into a diving spiral.  The dust cloud of 
the destroid line was getting ever closer.  Jack estimated another ten 
minutes before they reached the city edge.  If there was going to be an 
ambush, it would be now.

Almost immediately on the heels of that thought, the odd shapes below 
surged forward the advancing REF line.  Jack pulled up as a swarm of the 
red mecha swept through the sky towards the recon mecha.  He could hear 
Penn's cool tone directing support fire.

"Command, we have a line of heavy mecha setting up firing positions in 
grid squares two-five dash eight seven through two-two dash one-zero-niner."

Jack risked a glance in that direction and saw a line of purple mecha 
with two huge cannons mounted on their dorsal shell.  Whether they had 
the range or firepower to harm the Destroids would remain a mystery as a 
wave of heavy missiles arced in and immolated the Invid Mecha.  Jack 
sent his Alpha into a series of gut-wrenching spins and turns as a trio 
of red mecha decided he was their new playmate.

*******

"I remember these," Breetai mused from his command station.  On the 
monitor screen before him hovered the image of a bulky, lumbering 
giant.  The heavy laser in the thing's hand was impressive, but not as 
impressive as the pounding that it was taking. "Inorganics, Odeon's in 
this case.  They are the main ground forces of the Invid.  Slow and 
stupid, but tough, and they don't require protoculture for food like the 
regular forces."

Grant nodded. "Those lighter ones are about to hit our front line.  Fast 
buggers."

"Hellcats," Breetai stated. "Spread out the formation.  Group by platoons."

"Deploy the main cannon," Grant ordered. "Let's see of we can punch a 
hole in that line.

*******

Karen Penn might have been fascinated by the architecture of Tiseres 
were it not for her concern with survival.  Her father, one of the head 
scientists in Doctor Lang's R&D division, had stressed the need for 
logical analysis.  Karen's training and aptitude for piloting, on the 
other hand, stressed instinct.  Those two opposing forces working in 
concert were what attracted the attentions of the Sterlings.  She knew 
that she was on the fast track for her own command, as well.

But first she had to survive her first combat assignment.

It turned out that the purple mecha could fly, and they were as nimble 
in the air as an Alpha Guardian.  Combined with the twin plasma cannons 
they made for some large headaches.

"Baker," Karen screamed over the tac net, "where are you?"

"A little busy myself," Baker grunted. "Why?"

Karen hesitated a moment. "I need a hand."

"So do I," Baker replied. "Took a hit that fried primary fire control.  
I can't launch any missiles.  Hang on, and level out in...five seconds."

Karen wasn't about to argue.  After five seconds she pulled out of her 
climb and flew level.  Her three pursuers did the same and where about 
to fire when a red blur shot through the gap, missing Karen's Alpha by 
mere centimeters.  The purple Invid hesitated a moment, then perished as 
the swarm of light mecha chasing Baker's Alpha collided with them in 
mid-air.

"Need a hand, Baker?" Karen asked as the surviving pursuers flew through 
the cloud of debris and continued the chase.

*******

"Nah," Jack calmly replied. "I got 'em."

Jack spotted his goal on the ground and did a quick check of the 
transponders before keying his radio. "Attention Destroid group 
Tango-Bravo-Seven, this is Spitfire Eleven incoming.  Got some juicy 
targets for you."

"Spitfire Eleven," came a bass rumble, "acknowledged.  Just make sure 
you're not in the fire lane."

"Tell your Monster pilot not to shuffle his feet," Jack replied.  The 
red mecha were getting close, but fortunately for him these models were 
missing the plasma cannons of their more annoying brethren.  The claws 
looked sharp, though, even at two kilometers away.

At fifty meters from the ground, Jack shifted to Guardian mode to break 
out of the dive and convert momentum from vertical to horizontal.  He 
skimmed along the ground at speeds just barely sub-sonic.  The battle 
line had spread out as they fought the 'inorganics' on the plains.  Jack 
zipped between a pair of Gladiators pounding Hellcats into the ground 
and spied his target.

A quick burst of thrusters lined him up perfectly.  Jack yanked the 
leaver for Battleoid mode and started twisting his mecha even as it 
shifted forms.  He grunted once as the Alpha hit the ground, but 
maneuvered it delicately as it slid along the packed clay.  At the last 
second he raised his gun pod above his head and started firing.  One 
Invid mecha shattered in a burst of fire and green goo even as he slid 
between the legs of the MAC.

The other destroids in the platoon caught the Invid in a perfect 
crossfire.  Jack got his Alpha back on its feet and ducked behind the 
MAC's massive leg as he loaded a new clip of armor-piercing shells into 
his gunpod.  A brief squawk from his proximity sensor was the only 
notice he had before Penn's Alpha landed behind the MAC's other leg.

"Nice flying, now get ready, we have another wave coming at us.  Command 
thinks we finally attracted the attention of units elsewhere on the 
planet.  We have incoming carriers."

"More clams?" Jack asked.

"No," Penn replied. "Looks like some kinda of miniature starship.  
Possibly equivalents to the Titans."

Jack checked the rest of his systems.  Auto-repair was working on 
rerouting his missile control, so he should have that back in a few 
minutes.  Radar was clear, but when he switched to the tactical feed, he 
saw several large blips approaching the city.

"Hey flyboys," the destroid platoon leader commented, "this is Captain 
O'Hern.  Got orders from Command.  You two are staying with us.  The 
rest of your squadron is trying to intercept one of those carriers."

"Yes, sir," Karen replied sharply.

*******

Rattler squadron closed quickly with their target.  The Vindicators were 
outfitted with Wild Weasel loads and were tasked with weakening the 
troopship's defenses for Spitfire's attack run.  Commander Horatio 
Sinclair was worried by the lack of escorts for the huge vehicle.  To 
him that indicated armaments that could swat his squadron out of the sky.

"Target in sight," Sinclair noted. "Arm weapons, stand by to fire."

The anti-radiation missiles were 'fire and forget' sekers, much like 
heat-seekers used in the late 20th century.  To prevent confusion of 
targets, the volleys were launched slightly staggered, creating a 
rippling stream that pounced on the enemy targets like a crashing wave.  
Sinclair lined up his Vindicator with the three-headed monstrosity and 
activated his missile's seekers.  The beast drew ever closer, with no 
tone from the missiles indicating that they were locking on.

"Squadron, confirm target."

"Negative, Commander," the sensor specialist reported. "We're reading no 
emissions from the target.  Seekers are refusing to lock on."

"Maybe they're running silent?" Rattler's XO asked. "I'm seeing no 
activity on those turrets."

Sinclair hesitated.  No emissions made his mission more difficult, but 
he did have a mission to perform. "Can't risk radar, switch to laser and 
fire on my mark.  Mark!"

Sinclair triggered his missiles, and a moment later the rest of the 
squadron followed suit.  Over a thousand missiles streaked in, and were 
immediately targeted by defensive systems.  Sinclair kept his fighter on 
target, kept the laser designator on the carrier even as he began to 
bank away from the interception course.  Ahead, the carrier was pulling 
above the swarm of missiles, even as the multitude of lasers thinned the 
pack.  More importantly, the heavy weapons were shooting *through* the 
missile swarm, targeting the mecha guiding the missiles in.

"Scatter!" Sinclair ordered as the deadly beams began stabbing into the 
formation. "Relay sensor logs to Fleet Command.  All craft pull-"

Sinclair never finished his commands as a well-placed laser blast lanced 
through his Veritech and transformed it into a cloud plasma, scrap, and 
vapor.

*******

"Assault ship entering range," a crewman reported.

Vince Grant nodded. "Fire."

The huge cannon that made up a third of the Titan's bulk twitched 
slightly as the gunner locked onto his target.  There was a moment's 
pause, then a bolt of energy shot from the barrel with such force that 
the air rippled as it passed.  The assault ship shuddered once as the 
bolt tore into its mouth-like bow.  For an instant it appeared nothing 
happened, then the green and black hull shattered as explosions tore the 
ship apart.

"Find us another target, boys," Vince ordered. "Can't let the Destroids 
hog all the action."

*******

Lisa shook her head as reports from the ground started coming in.  Three 
assault squadrons lost with all hands, and two more with heavy damage.  
None of the fleet ship had weaponry fit for hitting moving targets that 
deep into the atmosphere.  The GMU was the only viable weapon for taking 
out the carriers.  As a result four of the monstrous carriers were 
landing outside of Tiseres.

"Most of the squadrons are returning to rearm," Tenchi reported. "We 
have twenty Alphas from various squadrons supporting the Destroids, but 
the force approaching has a good chance of overwhelming them."

"You have another trick waiting," Rick guessed.

Tenchi nodded. "Jon's leading Wing Three down as we speak."

"A few more Alphas won't make a difference," Lisa noted.

"I didn't say they were flying," Tenchi replied.

******

Anyone with a basic understanding of atmospheric composition and 
structure knows that the extreme heat and friction caused by the air can 
ruin one's day rather quickly.  Trans-atmospheric vehicles are designed 
with an eye for both heat resistance, and the ability to cut through the 
air currents to reduce friction and flight time.  Spartas-class Veritech 
Hover Tanks were ground vehicles, designed with neither in mind.

Then again, the human body was not designed to drop hundreds or 
thousands of meters and survive.  That was why the parachute was 
developed, to preserve the lives of those too stupid to stay in their 
airplane.  And so the REF developed special drop-capsules to preserve 
those to insane to use a drop ship.

Jonathan Wolfe leaned back as far as the Battleoid's enclosed cockpit 
would allow.  The entire wing was outfitted with tanks and drop 
capsules, and the hostile forces on the ground wouldn't know what hit them.

But before that, he had a good ten minutes of controlled falling to sit 
through.  A rather boring ten minutes, at that.  Followed by thirty 
seconds of hard deceleration, then a controlled drop for the last three 
kilometers.

*******

Karen Penn wasn't bored at all.  She and Baker had taken cover behind 
the MAC after the first new wave of Hellcats forced them to expend their 
missiles.  Now they were using the bulk of the Destroid and its 
cruiser-thick armor as cover while leaning around the legs to pick off 
enemy mecha.  The Destroid pilots were encouraging this, since the two 
Veritech pilots were picking off the faster bandits that the MAC's 
cannons had trouble tracking.

"Two o'clock, Flyboy," Penn said as she slid the last ammo clip into her 
gun pod.

Jack leaned out from behind the MAC and spotted a purple mecha taking 
aim at one of the Destroids.  He lined up a shot with his gunpod, zoomed 
in using the Veritech's optical systems, and put a short burst through 
the cyclopsian 'eye' of the mecha.  One of the Raider pilots had 
discovered that particular weak point, and the other pilots had been 
quick to take advantage of it.

"Running low of ammo, princess," Jack shot back at Penn. "Any word on 
our backup?"

"Control said that reinforcements were overhead three minutes ago."

"Well where are they?" One of the MAC gunners asked.

Another voice cut into the circuit. "Look up, boyo."

Jack directed his Alpha's gaze upward, and his mouth dropped open in 
disbelief.  The disbelief grew as the external microphones reported the 
sounds blaring out over the battlefield. "You have got to be kidding."

*******

Some commanders in the RDF believed that transmitting music over 
squadron communications frequencies enhaced coordination.  The choice of 
music varried, but typically classical music was used.  Wagner and 
Mussorgsky were especially popular.  Commander Vykir of Mustang Herd 
squadron was a former fighter pod pilot and an exception to the rule 
that the Zentradi Veritech pilots were Aces (and, therefor, female).  He 
also loved heavy metal music.  So did the rest of the squadron.  And 
after Miriya Sterling's joke about psychological warfare, Vykir had the 
loudspeakers of his squadron's hovertanks upgraded.

Which was why Jack Baker, Karen Penn, and Destroid platoon TB-7 were 
witness to a squadron of Hovertanks dropping out of the sky, rifles 
stabbing into the ranks of the last wave of Invid, with "For Whom the 
Bell Tolls" echoing over the battlefield.

The Hovertanks hit the ground with a mighty crunch of clay and metal.  
The song's vocals started up at that point, providing fuel for the 
tankers' aggression.  Half the mecha stayed in Battleoid mode, the other 
half transformed into a squat, boxy Gladiator mode to deploy the 
Hovertank's main gun.  The ion cannons were slow-firing, but could match 
the firepower of the MAC's cannons.

Karen was about to request permission to return to base when an odd blip 
flashed on her screen. "Hey Baker, did you get anything on thermals?"

"Yeah," Baker replied. "Looked human, too.  Check it out?"

"We have orders," Karen began.

"General order six," Baker replied. "Make all attempts to establish 
contact with Tirolian civillians."

"Not in combat!" Karen shot back.

"The tankers have the stragglers in hand, and our ammo's been in the red 
for six minutes.  We're not making a difference."

Karen contemplated her wingmate's statement, then switched to the 
general frequency. "This is Spitfire Nine.  Eleven and I are moving to 
investigate an anomolous signal in the city.  Out."

The two Alphas quickly switched to Guardian and zipped around the MAC.  
They curved around the Hovertanks as the last Invid mecha and inorganics 
were destroyed.  Captain O'Hern tried to call them back, but the 
Veritechs quickly vanished, causing him to lose line-of-sight 
communications.

*******

Cabel was whezing by the time they reached the entrance to the back-up 
shelter.  Rem carried the data crystals with their work, leaving Cabel 
with just himself to worry about.  Even so, the treck across the city 
had been filled with hazards, not to mention Invid occupiers.

"What are you waiting for?" Cabel asked as a hot wind blew through the 
street. "Open the vault."

Rem shook his head mutely.  Cabel followed his assistant's shaking hand 
across the wide courtyard to a pair of vehicles hovering above the 
street.  The hot wind turned out to be their engines wash, which cut out 
as the vehicles dropped to the ground and transformed into a form 
slightly larger than a bioroid.  Something about the transformation 
sequence seemed familiar to Cabel, but he could not figure out what.

"Greetings," boomed a female voice from the lead mecha. "We-"

"You came from Zor's ship!" Cabel shouted. "Take us to Lord Breetai at 
once!"

The two mecha did not move, but there was a definite sense the pilots 
were somehow exchanging bewildered looks.

*******

"And they're coming up here?" Rick asked.

Lisa nodded. "Breetai is taking a different shuttle, and Exodore seemed 
to recognize the face and name of this Cabel person.  What's the latest?"

"Teams are moping up the remaining packets of resistance," Rick replied. 
"Casualties were high, especially when those assault carriers 
mobilized.  Could have been a lot worse, though."

Rick turned to Tenchi. "Though I was getting a few reports of a pair of 
Alpha pilots disobeying orders."

Tenchi shrugged. "And they found the pair of civilians.  From what 
Exodore has said, it was worth it.  But I'll probably slap them with 
some punishment duty.  Have to enforce the chain of command."

There was a sort of bitterness in Tenchi's voice that made Lisa and Rick 
study their friend carefully.  Lisa broke the silence. "It's Edwards, 
isn't it?"

Tenchi nodded. "Techs reported.  Communications, targeting, guidance 
systems on the ordnance, even transformation circuits and actuators were 
fried.  They're amazed that the planes made it out of the hangers 
without their remaining communications and radar failing.  The 
monitoring circuits were also fried, so they didn't know anything was 
wrong."

"How?" Lisa asked incredulously. "Those should have shown up in 
pre-flight checks!"

"Except," Tenchi explained wearily, "pre-flights were performed *before* 
de-folding, because they were to launch immediately."

"VAF-6's are designed to endure folds," Rick replied. "All our equipment 
is."

Tenchi tossed Rick a data disk. "Except the TASC Alphas are model 
VAF-5b.  Effectively the same design, just without the ability to 
interface with Beta units.  Apparently someone back on Earth got a 
couple of parts mixed up and the wing never received upgrades to counter 
fold disruptions."

Lisa dropped into her chair, suddenly very glad that they were 
temporarily alone in the conference room. "You know, I miss the old 
days, before the Robotech War.  Ayeka could have shot Edwards as soon as 
his feet hit the deck."

"You know why she couldn't," Rick replied softly. "The UEG wouldn't risk 
putting that much power in the hands of a non-human."

"Or anyone," Tenchi added. "They didn't want to risk another Gloval 
threatening their power base."

That was certainly true, Rick mused.  That same desire muddied the chain 
of command on the SDF-3.  Thirty years before, the captain would have 
had control over everything on the ship.  Not just operations, but the 
ground and fighter groups stationed onboard.  This was still true for 
marine forces on the other ships in the fleet, but not the SDF-3.  The 
battle fortress was home to three separate chains of command:  Veritech 
squadrons under Tenchi, ground forces under Breetai, and ship personnel 
under Ayeka.  This did not include groups like Intelligence, R&D, and 
the JAG which existed independent of the command structure.  Anything 
that happened on the ship itself was Ayeka's jurisdiction, and she could 
issue commands to members of the other groups in the interests of 
shipboard safety and operations.  This meant that she could not touch 
Edwards after he returned to the ship, and given the speed with which 
the REF oversight council stepped in, Tenchi couldn't do much either.

"Judge Huxley sent me a message," Tenchi continued. "She said that given 
the evidence, there was no was they could press for any major 
disciplinary action."

"So that's it?" Lisa asked. "He walks."

Tenchi sighed. "All I can do is yank his flight status, and give his 
wing to Bensen - which was done before I came in here."

Lisa nodded, then looked at the panel at her place. "They're here, look 
alive."

End Chapter 2

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